


Bring A Plus One

by DarkHell616



Series: RSVP [1]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Banter, Best Friends, Conversations, F/M, Fluff, Matchmaking, Meet-Cute, Mentions of alcohol, Morgan's Wedding, Not Canon Compliant, POV First Person, Strangers, Wedding Fluff, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:07:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27010198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkHell616/pseuds/DarkHell616
Summary: Wedding bells were ringing.Derek Morgan had just married my best friend and it was time to celebrate with some good food and good company.Just the two of us, me and this awkward guy I'd only seen in passing during the wedding.Should be fun.
Relationships: Derek Morgan/Original Female Character(s), Spencer Reid/Reader
Series: RSVP [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980949
Comments: 8
Kudos: 62





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Partially dedicated to my best friend who adores her some Morgan.  
> There's been a fair bit of wedding stuff lately and it got me in the mood.  
> I apologise for perhaps not being 100% with my wedding knowledge, I have only attended a handful and I wouldn't be surprised if they work fairly differently in the US than they do in the UK.  
> But who cares!  
> We're here to be cute, so I hope you enjoy!

It was a sickeningly sweet ceremony.

Unconventional, which was to be expected with someone like my best friend, but beautiful all the same.

I can admit, there were tears in my eyes as I watched my best friend take the next step in her life, as she stood at the altar and shared those heartfelt words with the man she would see her life out with. (At least she better, or so help me, fire will rain down upon this land.)

My heart jolted as they shared their first married kiss and then made her way back down the aisle as Mr and Mrs Morgan.

We met outside with their mixture of family and friends to mingle, say our congratulations, have photos taken and then eventually disperse to make our own ways to the reception area while they drove off in a black limo ahead of us all.

I hitched a ride with one of her co-workers and boy, what an awkward ride that was.

I only knew him by name and I didn’t want to think of the stories that loudmouth had told about me, so instead of talking we simply drove to the golf club with the music on the radio being the only intermission to our silence.

Upon entering the hall, I was relieved to see that he was led away from me and I was brought to a table closer to the empty head table.

It wasn’t a large venue, the both of them wanting to keep the numbers scarce and the event more intimate, shared with those who meant the most to them, but that didn’t make it any less breath-taking an atmosphere to get sucked in to.

Pulling out the chair, I sat down while glancing around to watch as others talked amongst themselves, some already with drinks in their hands.

The mood was jovial and laughs rang around the hall, the atmosphere was the complete opposite of my typical weekends which were spent with the horror stories I liked to listen to while wasting time with some game on my laptop.

It was a nice change of pace and made me feel oddly seasonal, like I was in a scene from a Hallmark movie, only with better characters and higher chance at a decent plot.

Who am I kidding? I’ve never watched a Hallmark movie in my life, what would I know?

I continued to people watch as others arrived, mingled then found their designated tables.

Surprisingly, her family was some of the last to arrive and they barely spoke to anyone as they shuffled across the room to their own table, which was larger than mine.

Did I get a table to myself?

It seemed like it, it wasn’t exactly very big.

I wouldn’t complain, I was never a particular fan of socialising, especially with people I don’t know.

Her dad did greet people and share a few words and chuckles here or there, so at least one of them didn’t look like this magnificent day was nothing but a wet Wednesday afternoon with endless rain and cars that insisted on splashing them.

I jumped as the chair across from me was pulled out and a disheveled man in an amazingly dapper suit with wild hair dropped into the seat, taking some deep breaths.

He was instantly recognisable as Derek’s best man, but that was all I knew about him.

“Hi,” I said, my eyebrows raised in slight bewilderment.

He looked back at me as if he hadn’t noticed that I was there, then gave me a shaky smile and a small head nod.

“Hello,” he replied.

“Did you just run a marathon?”

He breathed out a laugh and shook his head, his hair flopping around adorably.

“No, but I feel like it, Morgan forgot something and I had to rush it over to him before rushing back here and the traffic had backed up pretty bad so I was really worried that I’d be late.”

“Ah, rush hour, the joys of after school and work hours.”

“Yes, I should have taken that into account.”

“Hey, the groom called and you had an important role as the best man to see to the duty, these things happen.”

He smiled, an attractive sight that made his brown eyes light up and seemed to take years off his already youthful face.

“You were one of the bridesmaids, correct?”

I smiled back and nodded.

“Yes, I would have been maid-of-honour but I turned it down, she’s my best friend but I couldn’t afford the duties and didn’t really have time, so I stepped back and took another role.”

“Ah, maid-of-honour in spirit.”

“Totally, not that I wasn’t still involved with all the planning I could be, I still have best friend duties after all.”

“Titles don’t change the style of friendship.”

I hummed in agreement and then here was a brief lull in the conversation, which seemed like the perfect opportunity to introduce myself formally to my temporary table buddy.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he replied, “I’m Spencer.”

“As in the infamous Spencer Reid?” I laughed, finally glad to put a face to a name, “The genius with the eidetic memory who remembers everything.”

“Not quite everything, only visually.”

“Pfft, ‘only’ he says.”

Spencer chuckled softly, his eyes dropping to the table as he worried his bottom lip between his teeth a little.

I picked up my glass and started running my finger around the rim of it, starting to contemplate on getting up and getting a drink.

Something fruity sounded good right about now.

“So, you’ve uh…heard of me?”

I looked to him as he broke the silence, giving him a light smile and a nod, which then turned into another laugh.

“Oh yeah, so much so that you’d figure she was marrying you and not Derek.”

“Actually, that’s the secret we’re keeping from him, we’ve already eloped and have five kids and a mortgage.”

“Ah, I see,” I nodded, “extra funds?”

Spencer smiled widely and nodded, “Extra funds, kids are expensive.”

I covered my mouth with my hand as I laughed, his eyes twinkling with happiness (or the lights and the decorations combined perfectly to give that affect).

He was absolutely adorable, I could see now why she had talked so much about him after a night out with Derek and the gang.

She’d mentioned repeatedly how well we would get on and she knew that one of my types was the lanky and kind of awkward nerds.

My suspicions were starting to rise.

Not that I had time to dwell on them.

The crackling of a mic soon silenced the audience in the room, a large squeal as the equipment adjusted making some, especially me, grit their teeth and tense up.

I had never been good with certain sounds, anything too high or bassy went straight through me and typically ended in a headache, so I silently prayed to a god I didn’t believe in that I wasn’t in for a night of terrible noises.

“Okay,” started an announcer from the DJ’s booth, “ladies, gentleman and all others in the crowd, it’s almost time to bring in the food.”

A small cheer erupted in the room, some going that little further with a whoop and some clapping before everyone settled down again.

The man on the mic laughed.

“Food always gets a warm welcome, but first, I’m sorry to say, you’re going to have to sit through the first dance.”

There was a louder cheer as the first chords to their chosen songs started to play, the lights dimmed just a little and the double doors opened for them to make their entrance, hand in hand and smiling so beautifully at one another.

They had barely made it to the dancefloor when my eyes started to well up and my throat constricted, I wasn’t usually the overly sentimental type but seeing my best friend so happy had the same effect on me as animal rescue videos.

It was in that moment that I wished I had gotten up to get a drink earlier.

“Oh my,” I mumbled, wiping my eyes as discretely as I could while taking a long breath in to open my throat and alleviate the ache.

My eyes flickered towards Spencer, wanting to be sure that he wasn’t witnessing my embarrassing display.

Of course, luck wasn’t on my side as we immediately made eye contact, to which I could only react with a shaky smile.

“Sorry, I’m gone already.”

“You don’t need to apologise, actually it’d be a little weirder if you didn’t cry at your best friend’s wedding, obviously not everyone will react the same way but many people find the combination of emotions, which can be negative and positive, to be too overwhelming and that power manifests itself as tears.”

He finished his sentence with a brief nod and then quickly turned back to look at the dancing couple, his tongue running over his bottom lip.

Once the song reached its halfway point there was a pop over the speakers as the mic was turned back on.

“Okay folks, I think they’re looking a little lonely, how about we get some more couples up here to feel the moment.”

Various people around us got up and made their way to the dancefloor, some hand in hand and smiling lovingly while others simply looked a little buzzed from the alcohol already coursing through them.

Spencer looked up at me as I also stood and adjusted my top, running my hands over it to flatten it out as I turned to him.

“I’m going to grab a drink, would you like something?”

“Oh, yes please.”

“Great, what would you like?”

“Nothing alcoholic, unfortunately I’m driving home tonight.”

“Sprite it is.”

I gave him a thumbs up and then wandered off, shuffling around the tables and being mindful to not bump into anything.

So far, the day had taken a pretty interesting turn.


	2. Chapter 2

“Uh, this food is so good.”

Spencer looked up from his own plate, his expression blank now that he’d heard me say it about fifty times already.

But come on, breaded Camembert cheese and cranberry sauce? Divine.

Now a roast dinner? Perfection.

“It is pretty nice,” he nodded before going back to cutting up a bit of his meal.

“Pretty nice? You kidding me? I could marry this chicken,” I groaned, cutting into a roast potato and coating it in gravy and vegetables.

“Good luck finding anywhere that would allow that union, even in Vegas you wou-…actually, I won’t finish that sentence, even I’m not entirely sure on that”

I leaned back in my seat, looking away and hold the back of my hand to my mouth to hide the grossness in there as I laughed, also trying to not splutter on my food as I finished my mouthful.

“Wow, even the great Dr. Reid can admit defeat?”

“Only when it comes to Vegas.”

I smiled and nodded slowly, cutting up another bit of chicken.

“We can just be glad there’s variety and it’s not all shrimp,” I rolled my eyes affectionately, “she does love a good bit of shrimp.”

“I guessed from how much she ate one time at Rossi’s,” he chuckled softly, setting his cutlery down as he finished eating. “Did you know that approximately five billion pounds of shrimp are produced every year? And Americans are estimated to eat around one billion of those pounds?”

My eyebrows slowly rose and my head tilted.

“Wow, so that leaves another four billion for her.”

“Doesn’t sound like enough if you ask me.”

I snickered, pointing my fork at him, “Only I can mock my best friend.”

“You know, she’s technically my best friend by proxy now.”

Narrowing my eyes, I huffed and turned my fork back towards myself.

“Just tell me more facts, Google.”

\---

“So, earlier you said that you were ‘unfortunately’ driving,” I said, looking at him while pausing to sip my drink, “were you looking forward to letting loose?”

The night was wearing on.

Speeches were made, meals had been eaten, desserts had been inhaled and alcohol was flowing well enough to get people into a happy little buzz.

The music had picked up and many were dancing in a tipsy stupor while others mingled between themselves.

Spencer had gone off a few times to speak to someone, I would presume from his team, and I wandered about to have brief catchups with some of her family and other shared friends, though that was a small number.

Eventually, we both ended up gravitating back to our little table, talking for a while and then separating again.

The mood hadn’t taken me to get up and dance just yet, but it was only a matter of time, so as I waited it out, I sat with Spencer and indulged in some light fruity alcohol.

“No, I prefer not to drink to the point of inebriation,” he replied.

I snickered softly at the way he put it, I was starting to think that he was incapable of putting things in the simpler terms.

“I get it, I don’t drink much myself, but if not that then what? If you don’t mind me asking of course”

“Not at all,” he smiled, letting out a small huffed laugh, “I have a reputation among the team for not being the best driver, which is fine I prefer not to drive, I use public transport to get around usually.”

“Until you have a wedding to get to.”

“Precisely.”

“Well, at least you can drive.”

“You don’t?”

“Nope, partially by choice.”

“How ecological.”

“We’ll stick with that, it makes me feel better,” I said, choosing to ignore the teasing edge to his smile.

Instead, I turn my attention to the bride and groom, who were all over each other on the opposite side of the room, getting ready to cut the cake.

Keeping my eyes trained on them, I turned my head towards Spencer.

“I need to run something by you.”

Spencer looked up, almost looking a little panicked as he nodded to give the go ahead.

“Okay, so you’re a profiler.”

“Observant.”

I give him a deadpanned look, which only earns me another cheeky grin in return.

“So, I can’t be the only one that picked up on the fact that we’re the only two seat table here, right?”

“I did notice, I noticed when I saw the seating plan over Morgan’s shoulder during planning.”

“When was this?” My eyebrow arched upward, my glass coming to my lips.

“Just under four months ago.”

I narrowed my eyes and glared towards the two.

As if on cue, she turned towards me and made direct eye contact, her best friend sense no doubt tingling that I was watching her.

She knew that I was onto her.

Ever since she’d returned from her first outing with the team she had been raving about how great Spencer was, how he was so smart, how he was a total nerd and a bookworm, totally my type.

To say that she was less than subtle would be an understatement, I knew it was only a matter of time before she tried something, though I’d foolishly not expected her to drag Derek into it.

Their plan was executed right under our noses.

And damn it…it seemed to be working.


	3. Chapter 3

“So, more questions,” I smiled while setting my now empty glass down, “how come you’re stuck with me? No one else to bring along?”

“No,” he shook his head, “everyone who I could have invited is here anyway and I don’t have many friends outside of work, so it’s just me.”

“Ah, that’s a shame, but at least you’ve made a non-work friends now.”

Spencer smiled and nodded in agreement, “And what about you?”

“Well, I was going to show up with my other best friend but sadly he couldn’t make up, something came up with his boyfriend so…” I shrugged.

“Hence why you ended up hitching a ride with the co-worker.”

“And we’ve come full circle.”

Upon that thought, I lifted my head and started to scan the room, trying to locate said co-worker.

My eyes finally landed on him, talking away with two other people I had never seen before in my life.

“He’s kind of cute,” Spencer commented.

I glanced to Spencer then back at the co-worker, whose name I still didn’t know, and must have pulled a displeased face judging by the way that his expression suddenly softened.

“He’s okay,” I shrugged.

“Maybe you should go over and talk to him,” he continued, “maybe get to know him better.”

“What? No,” I laughed, giving a wave of my hand, “he’s not my type, I’m more concerned about the drive home.”

“If you’re lucky enough to not be forgotten, by the way his body is angled towards the blonde one and he’s brandishing wildly as he’s talking and making sure they’re both engaged in him and him only, I think he’s trying to shoot his shot and she seems pretty receptive to him.”

“So what you’re saying is that I’m going to get left behind by this random dude so he can smash?”

“In layman’s terms, yes.”

I sighed and chewed on my lip, my leg beginning to bounce.

“Maybe I’ll be lucky and he won’t score.”

Spencer shifts in his seat, his hands wringing together in his lap.

“Well, I know I said I didn’t have the best reputation for driving but maybe, if you get forgotten and don’t feel too weird about it, I can drive you home.”

“You would do that for me?” I smiled at him, my stomach fluttering just a little bit.

“I wouldn’t have offered otherwise.”

Damn, this man really was something else.

\---

“-GONNA TAKE SOME TIME TO DO THE THINGS WE NEVER HAAAAAVE!!!”

My throat was sore but I wasn’t giving up on my off-key yelling, even if a laugh or five kept breaking my stride, though Spencer wasn’t fairing any better, luckily we’d made it to the end of the song without having the police called on us.

During the night, our chairs had slowly moved around the table to sit closer to one another.

“I can’t hear you over the music,” he had said with an affirming nod.

“I know, it’s so noisy,” I agreed.

That was how we ended up leaning against one another’s shoulders, yelling the chorus to Africa and giggling like schoolkids.

“Only the chorus,” I reminded him, pointing my finger like a teacher making a point, “as is my family tradition, at least.”

“Of course, as the sacred scriptures all declare.”

Spencer lifted his wrist and checked his watch before taking a quick glance around.

“It’s getting kind of late,” he said, looking back to me, “I’m thinking that maybe it’s time to call it a night and drive back.”

“That’s an idea, we don’t want you driving back too late.”

“No and preferably before I get tired, around ten to twenty percent of road accidents are fatigue related incidences and only one in eight drivers will admit to having fallen asleep at the wheel.”

“Only one in eight? Damn but see, that’s why I get nervous about driving tests, I entirely trust myself but it’s other drivers I don’t.”

“Wise choice, pedestrians alone make up thirty percent of deaths due to road accidents, once you’re an occupant of the car that number jumps up to seventy.”

“Comforting.”

Looking towards the happy couple, I sigh wistfully and feel my face soften before turning back to Spencer.

“We should probably go up separately and say we’re leaving or we’ll never hear the end of this.”

“I wouldn’t worry,” he shrugged while standing up, “they’ll probably guess when they see you’re not here but the flirter is,” Spencer stopped for a moment and frowned a little, “or is it that you don’t want to be seen leaving with me?”

“No! Nothing like that, why wouldn’t I want to be seen with you?”

“You wouldn’t be the first person.”

“Well I’m definitely not on that list, I just don’t want to have to put up with their teasing, that’s all.”

“Oh, I guess I’m so used to people thinking I’m weird that you might be worried about catching it,” he laughed half-heartedly.

“Spence,” I smiled softly, reaching over to place my hand over his, “if I bagged a man like you, I’d be screaming it from my rooftop, people like me don’t get lucky to pick up guys like you.”

“Guys like me?”

“Yeah, you put yourself down too much.”

He stared at me for a moment, a strange, lingering moment until he broke eye contact and stood up.

“I’ll tell them we’re leaving.”

He started making his way away from the table as I gathered my jacket and plucked up my bag from beneath the table.

Spencer and Derek were already talking as I walked over, shrugging and tugging my jacket into place.

“So you’re off, hm?”

I looked to the beautiful bride, who was smiling at me with a not-so-subtlely suggestive expression.

“We are, but don’t think anything is happening,” I shook my head.

“Mhmm, we’ve been watching you both all night, I told you that you’d get on great with him one day.”

“Uh-huh,” I drone with disinterest, “congratulations again, I can’t wait to see the honeymoon photos.”

“And I can’t wait to hear how your night ends.”

“Oh, well let me spoil that for you, I’m going home and I’m going to curl up in bed with Shudder-”

“And Spencer.”

“No!”

“Come on,” she grinned, nudging my rib with her elbow and making me flinch, “you didn’t nair up for nothing.”

My cheeks started to heat up and I was sure I’d gone beet red, undoubtedly bright enough that I could be used as a stop light.

Thankfully our attention was diverted when Derek laughed loudly enough to make us turn towards him, just as he clapped Spencer on the back hard enough to make him stumble a little.

“Don’t let us hold you back,” Derek grinned as widely and just as suggestively as his new bride.

Spencer shot him a look as he stepped towards me.

“I think you’re getting ahead of yourself,” he said, sounding a little flustered, “I’m going to say goodbye to the rest of the team.”

“I’ll wait outside for you,” I smiled, glancing between the newlyweds, “have a good honeymoon, I want to see lots of pictures.”

I hugged each of them tightly, giving another congratulations before heading outside while Spencer wandered off to say farewell to the rest of the team.

Outside had grown dark and nippy, the wind adding an extra bite to the air and making me shiver.

Staring out into the dark expanse, I started to think about the teasing and wondered just how right they may have been.

Not for tonight, of course not, but the potential development of a relationship in the future once this night was all over and done with.

Would we remain friends?

Most likely we’d go our separate ways and hear about one another through the grapevine of our mutual friends, we’d only see one another at mutual events.

That’s just my kind of luck.

So, I decided as I turned towards the sound of footsteps coming towards me, I would make the most of the moments I had with this peculiar man.

“Are you ready to go?” Spencer asked with a smile.

“I am,” I nodded, following beside him as he made his way to his car, my hands slid into my jacket pockets to keep them at least a little warm.

The drive would take about an hour or so, plenty of time to get my fill before he left my life.


End file.
